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Batman massacre victims to receive donated payout

The families of 12 people killed in July in a US movie cinema massacre will receive $US220,000 ($214,000) each from a special relief fund created by private donations, the Denver Post reported.

Five victims who suffered permanent brain damage or physical paralysis in the killing spree also will receive $US220,000 each. The money will be disbursed in the next few days.

The total amount donated to the fund reached more than $US5.3 million, the newspaper reported. It was administered by Ken Feinberg, a lawyer specialising in mediation who served as special master of the US government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

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Mr Feinberg was recruited to mediate between victims of the cinema shooting and the fund's co-creators - the governor's office and a non-profit community foundation, the newspaper said.

Thirty-eight of 57 claims filed were approved by Mr Feinberg.

Smaller graduated payouts will be made people who were hospitalised. Victims who did not require overnight hospitalisation and those who filed claims for mental trauma received no payout because of limited funds, a spokesman for the Governor said.

The accused gunman, James Holmes, a former neuroscience student, faces 152 charges including 24 counts of first-degree murder.

The July 20 shooting occurred in a cinema in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, Colorado during the premiere of the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.